It's OK to Feel Pain - It's Part of the Journey

SHARES

A lot of the time I talk about the qualities of love, light, joy, happiness and radiance. I discuss them as 24/7 experiences, something that is inherent and eternally within you. Something that is available to all.

This could be frustrating, if not grating, for some people as I am sure for many, these are remote and seemingly unattainable goals. For many, they are only experiencing hurt, pain, angst, confusion, darkness, anxiety, loneliness or sadness. Well....this is OK.

Pain is inevitable. Pain is part of the journey of evolution. It's totally OK to feel these things. Don't deny your right to be where you are. Sit with it, be in it, feel it. It's an integral step of your Path.

I am where I am now, after 16 years of twice a day Stillness Sessions, numerous weekend and week long retreats, thousands of hours of lectures by Supreme Masters, hundreds of spiritual texts and self-help books, all because it was inspired by pain, darkness, loneliness, anxiety, etc. These dark, heavy times were the engine of my evolution. It was because of these experiences that I am here now lighter, clearer, freer, more loving. The darkness drove me. Discontent is the compelling force for change.

Think of this, what's the first thing you do when you walk into a dark room? You grope around for the light switch. Sometimes you fumble, stub your toe, clutching at things in the dark. It can take time before you find it. Well, our journey is like this.

If you are in a dark place, feeling lost, lonely, sad, afraid, unloved or pained, know that it is OK. This could be your cue, maybe its your trigger, your turning point, or maybe its just somewhere you need to be right now. If it's not, and you want to move out of the darkness, then fumble around for that light...it's there. "Seek and ye shall find," one great man once said.

All the tools and knowledge we need to move from pain to joy, from sadness to happiness, from unloved to love, from darkness to light, are all here on earth now. Everything we need to know and do to get there is at our disposal. When you're ready, you'll find it, and not a moment sooner.

But for now, if being in the sadness or darkness is where you find yourself, allow yourself the right to be where you are right now. Look within yourself and say, "It's OK."

Tom is the founder of The Stillness Project, a global movement with the mission of inspiring 1 billion people to sit in meditation daily. Prior to this he led a very successful 26-year career in finance as a broker, trading swaps and bonds for global investment banks. A few years…